mking8288

LoL 😆 glad to see you enjoyed this, once "live" to relive last Nov's Prima TA. What about KFC in Iceland, apparently very popular whereas along coastal England, it was McK'D's and their driver-thru. We laughed seeing Domino's Pizza and no Dunkin's spotted. What's on your 2's radar in cruising this year ? Was checking out the Joy for a last minute, short 7 days to Bermuda out of NY - all sold out this weekend 😳 Oh well, will just wait & see what my BIL, SIL and best friends have to say about the newly refurbished, again, have to say or report back. Regards 😎 Catching up on posts while we're at sea or away, onboard & ashore as it wasn't easy to keep up w everyone's remarks & comments.

On a sad note of closure, without further details - please do not ask and to respect privacy - my understanding that one of the Prima guest taken ashore for medical care in Iceland has been granted eternal membership on a different heavenly cruise line, in good hands. Thoughts & prayers for the family, loved ones & friends and thanks, NCL in providing urgent care, speeding up arrival time to Reykjavik and doing all the trained professional onboard can do to help.

Mandy, thanks ... we have a road trip planned next month. Nothing for the hot & humid summer months. Next mini adventure will NOT be on NCL - 9 nights on another line in 2nd half of September, drive-park-cruise. The bigger one in late Fall is booked but ... having doubts, may cancel & move the booking w discounts to another ship/date/itinerary.

Hahaha, breakfast was just oatmeal & coffee in the good old dining table, no window views or watching ship’s wake. Good enough, no buzzer and no wait, but I missed having a double order of smoked salmon w bagel & yogurt. The good news is that I didn’t gain weight, actually slimmer by 2 lbs while DW complained about the scale being off by 3 lbs, gotta get a new digital scale, lol. Before I even get to decompress, NCL already sent out the post cruise surveys … will write up the final report this week, and see if others wish to pool their thoughts too. Lunch treat from another niece as we safely got mommy home for them - Shabu Shabu or hotpot, DIY cooking in a personal pot w choice of soup stock or broth. Lunch price - a fraction of NCL’s specialty dining costs, wait - this isn’t an option at all onboard. We better get on a diet starting tomorrow. Meanwhile, our steward isn’t answering anymore so Mrs M is in the laundry room - reality ….

If you go to CC's partner/affiliate site @Tripadvisor ... you should be able to see a ranked list of tour & transfer, car service & taxi companies that offer basic PTP airport-cruise terminal transfer, in addition to the option of half-day add on/side tours. PT - Adrian's price quotes are very competitive, affordable & reasonable vs. NCL port transfer @ $75 p/p ship to LHR or LGW. He is very responsive & answer email and questions promptly (take into account time zone difference) and details-oriented. He was outside Berth 103 with our name on a digital device ready & waiting to greet us & help us get to his vehicle, we're able to SMS/text him using WhatsApp and/or by calling - I'm sure he can do that at LHR or LGW. He has larger vehicle / van that can fit more adults and more luggage in the back. His recommendation would be to fly in a day or 2 early, picked up and do a 1/2 day tour at Windsor, perhaps stay there overnight, and then go direct to the ship terminal the morning of embarkation and shall personalize options for one to choose (i.e. SIL with some mobility issues & get around with a walking cane ... we opted to do less walking & go easy with fewer steps) We learned about his services reading Trip* reviews and word-of-mouth from others here on CC. It made plenty of sense with our party of 4 to do this vs. using NCL and spending more than 3 to 4 hours sitting at the airport (unless we paid extra for one-day lounge pass x 4 people) Our ballpark number, including 1 extra hour of "tour" time was about 330 UK pounds (approxm $360 USD) - grats/tips is strictly optional, USD and Euro are fine, as he doesn't expect clients to have the UK currency on hand. We paid for our Cloisters lunch using c.c. - easy & simple.

@Fogfog Here's to wishing both Robert & you enjoying the remaining time in & around London. Thanks, Judith @Turtles06 in the suggestion about car service ... which I thinks is better suited for 2 of you w luggage. Otherwise, the train leaving from Victoria Station in London will get you to Gatwick in 30 minutes, we saw plenty of lightly packed travelers going to/from the airport, also saw National Express bus services where our driver-guide dropped us off. You will need a coin to insert into the slot to use one of those free luggage cart to haul them up 1 level (via elevators) to departure level for your homebound flight check-in. Allow plenty of time to get thru airport security, after a quick swipe of the bar coded boarding pass (and, if you are out of ziplock bag, not-to-worry, airport has plenty of free zip lock bag just before security, to place all of the 3-1-1 items) Brits take the screen measures very seriously unlike our embarkation last month. If the airline is asking to check the weight of all carry-on luggage on the scale while doing check-in & bag drop in issuing those boarding passes - once satisfied, they should give you a tag to affix to the bag, marking it as approved to avoid further issues at the boarding gate (where they just scan & check one's travel documents & BP again). (My tips for other prospective flyers: this is a travel vest comes in handy by removing a few heavier items (3 smartphones, 1 iPad mini, 1 battery bank, and a batch of charging cables & adapters) can be "worn" on a "temporary" basis, to pass the "test" ... and "wear" the heaviest coat, parka, 3 season jacket, etc. - the magical "expandable" carry-on bag surely can help to pack everything again, once airside)

After being away for just a short 15 nights, it's good to be home & sleeping in our own comfortable bed again ... slowly waking up with coffee, no room service and no Hudson MDR or The Local, we only managed to eat once in the Surfside Cafe, a very light meal after a busy port day before dinner elsewhere on board. DW and I reached the same conclusion about whether we would fly Norse again to/from JFK since this is a new route and if they don't succeed here, they aren't going to get anywhere with the "internal" interline and partner alliance connections as a gateway to other major US cities ... I wouldn't be surprised if NCL would book their "Air" option with Norse. Hard product - aircraft & seats get a B+ (bathroom conditions 2/3 way into the 7 hour non-stop was becoming gross w the wet floor) but at least it's more "spacious" than those A321 NEO LR or B737 Max used by other airlines flying across the pond. In-flight entertainment as a whole is a B and too tired to be bothered with getting out our own headset or connect with a Bluetooth adapter (NAA will sell one at $35 for your convenience or $7 for el cheapo wired headset, blanket for $6 but no travel pillow) Niece sitting behind us (with SIL) was able to switch seat to keep a middle seat/extra leg room open between them - that was good. There are no 110/220V outlet to charge electronics & keep laptops running and the single USB-A outlet below the 9" TV monitor screen didn't work at all (tried both 11D and 11E, didn't bother w 11F - niece reported 12F worked & her Samsung was 100% charged by the time we deplaned) Our seats were 11C, 11D and 12C and 12D (all aisle seats, mine with extended/extra legroom & bulkhead ... ending up seating in the middle - 11E and 11D and 11F unoccupied, seat width was tight with the tray table & a poor design. Flight status map gets a D for very limited info (unlike TAP-Portugal & other carriers like Cathay Pacific, Korean Air & Lufthansa. Not being in a window seat, it was difficult to figure out what's below us flying 550 mph, as I figured we caught a good jet stream and wasn't against a headwind, cut our scheduled flight in-the-air time by 40+ minutes, cruising at FL 400 most of the way with little to no in-flight turbulence, seat belt signs remained off after we're at our initial FL 300 until gradual descent somewhere off Nova Scotia toward MA on the LI approach, and we did a loop or two to circle before coming in for a fairly smooth landing - to be ruined by taxiway delays of 20+ minutes and then gate/jetbridge issues of 20+ minutes before door #2 finally opened at Terminal 7. Within 5 days of flight departure, offered us the chance to upgrade (15% off) for about $350 per seat to premium cabin ... since we already paid for priority check-in, priority boarding, checked luggage (1 pc at 50 lbs/44 kg) and carry-on (1 at 22 lbs/10kg) and 1 basic meal ... didn't think the extra reclining seat in premium for a 7 hour non-stop is worth it, declined. Premium cabin was nearly full by departure when door was closed, main cabin was probably 95% full although the forward cabin section was closer to 80% full - most flyers selecting Norse for its bargain fare and not to earn/accure mileage or points, etc. A few pictures from the boarding area, Gate 15 at Gatwick's South Terminal - security screening was time consuming as they're very strict, laptops & electronics, especially large tablets & iPads, etc. had to be out along with 3-1-1 bags, and bags diverted for secondary were given the visual inspection as well as chemical swipe/analysis before being cleared. Once they began boarding, as seen below, Priority boarding (Zone 2 for us, Zone 1 is Premium) helped us cut the line of 50+ people and we're seated inside the cabin by 7:45 PM, almost 1 hour before push-back as the door wasn't closed until about 8:25 PM with 1 last pax boarding late. Memo to others - use the bathroom first before joining the boarding line as there's no access once there, buy your juice/bottle water/soda, etc. at the vending machine before proceeding to board - service once airborne was slow, selling extras before meal service began with the boxed "meal" around 10 PM ... no beverage services at all and no FA come out to offer water (never mind anything else ... unless your "ring" the FA call button for service). Between TAP-Portugal & Norse, I think we'll rather book TAP on the same route serviced over Norse ...

@UKstages Will do a post-cruise summary & put some final thoughts into this trip, allow for a day of rest ... been a long day for us. Norse non-stop departed LGW a few mintues early and wheels down @JFK almost 30 minutes early, tarmac delayed due to gate at T7 not being available and then issues with the jet bridge aligning with the B789. A very quick walk thru CBP w facial recognition, waited 10 minutes for luggage & zip thru USDA inspection, nephew got our text and drove over from cargo ops to fetch & drive us home. A few thoughts on Norse Atlantic Airway, nice B789 & even bathroom is "larger" than expected, maintenance & cleanliness in-flight below average & in need of improvement. Aircraft staffing level is higher from minimal services in-flight, being a LCC. Airport check-in open and opens 4 hours prior to scheduled departure. even carry-on luggage are weighted and tagged. Gate assignment info wasn't available until 80 to 90 minutes before gate departure and with early boarding (we're in Zone 2) - leave little time to buy food, beverage and/or snack for the flight (highly recommended) - the economy "box lunch" is small (with a choice of soda, juice or tea/coffee included, no refills offered - and NOT worthy paying upcharge for. No WiFi onboard offered, only some of the USB ports worked & good for charging. Overhead storage bin size is generous and bags are stored vertically to maximize space. We paid extra for extra leg room, forward section of cabin and priority check-in & boarding. Ended up having use of 3 bulkhead seat (11 D, E and F) but seat width being reduced - a tight squeeze. Bring a water bottle to refill airside, post-security and food/snacks for a long flight.

Norse started priority & early boarding almost 1 hour before departure and we left the gate a few minutes early, just landed at JFK runway at 10:46 & long taxi to gate, not available yet as other aircraft hadn’t pushed back - sitting & waiting.

@The P @Arzeena and @Fogfog Susan & the ladies were exhausted and didn't feel like going inside to shop.

Chichester - photos batch #2

Chichester tour stop - photos batch #1

Jones Beach, NY out in LI, Coney Island and or Atlantic City beaches & waterfront, doesn't come close to match this coastal naval &: military seaport and active base.

Boat cruise, all electric - up to 5 (children) Additional photos from Portsmouth -

1st batch of photos from our quick tour at Portsmouth this morning - That's Adrian, our Paragon Taxis driver-guide